Walk the Line
by Stylus of Gold
Summary: For ninety years the Cullens have walked The Line between human and monster, and now one of them has fallen in love, a love which will drag him, the Cullens and the Washington State vampires into the abyss of war. AU Twilight for people who (sort of) hate Twilight. Older Bella.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

AN: This is Twilight for people who like the idea of Twilight, but found the execution left much to be desired. For people into Vampire: The Masquerade, some of this may be familiar. For the rest of us, see after this prologue for a list of the weird term I'll use.

* * *

As I write this, the Camarilla is bearing down upon us because of one of our member's indiscretion.

The Cullen family has existed, ignoring the customs of clan segregation and forsaking our mortal and vampire surnames as a mere footnote to the bonds of family which have tied us together, for nearly a century.

For ninety years since our founding in nineteen eighteen, we Cullens have stuck together, fed together, bled together, defied the predation of Kindred upon Kine and always walked The Line with confidence and love, love which has let us catch each other when we fall.

I speak of The Line which so many vampires now do not believe exist. Among elder vampires, so few still believe in it that I, Carlisle Cullen, may be the last elder "believer" in the state. The Line is a narrow path, a tightrope with the abyss on either side. To the right is The Beast; succumbing to our inner natures and losing our humanity and ourselves to the hunger within. On the left lies the loss of our vampirism and the wrath of the Camarilla. Loss of life to our left, loss of self to our right.

And now, one of us has fallen and as usual we were there to catch him.

This time, he dragged us down with him, into the abyss. We could have let go, saved ourselves. But we did not. Because we are a family, and families protect each other come Armageddon itself. And because it was not hate, nor fear, nor anger nor hunger which caused his fall.

'Twas love.

* * *

Definitions of the weird terms in this and upcoming chapters:

Camarilla=Ruling vampiric authority, vaguely like the Volturi

Elders=Old, powerful vampires six to eight steps removed from the first vampire (like Carlisle or Aro)

Ancilla=midde-aged vampires nine to eleven steps removed (Like Edward).

Neonates=young, brash vampires eleven to thirteen steps removed.

Elysium=Where vampires can talk and socialize and plot and plan without fear of discovery.

Clan=different varieties of vampire who claim a common ancestor back in the ancient third generation.

The Masquerade=The sacred decree that vampires shall never reveal their nature to humans and the first law of the Camarilla.

Gehenna=Nigh apocalyptic event which took place in the year two thousand, where the vampire race was brought to the brink of extinction by the awakening third generation before they finally killed, imprisoned or made peace with these godlike beings.

Kindred=Term for vampires.

Kine=Term for humans, often used derogatorily like the other term, "cattle".


	2. Chapter 1–Night's Rhythm

**Chapter 1–The night's rhythm**

Edward Cullen-Brujah watched, perched on a lamp-post sending light down into the street below, as the 6:00 world unfolded beneath him. It was cold, winter was coming. It was dark, and the moon was obscured by the clouds from which drizzled cold november rain.

A car raced by, it's headlights illuminating for but a moment asphalt roads and small, homely houses. He could see perfectly well without the headlights, however, for he was a vampire after all, cloaked by shadows and never seen by human's eyes yet ever seeing with vampire's eyes.

He started each night with this, this watching and waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever did, but what mattered wasn't the happening, it was the watching. Letting himself let go of himself and become one with night's rhythm. He remained there for a time, then heard Alice Cullen-Malkavian calling "Eddie!"

Edward looked down, swung down from the lamppost and landed in front of her. Smiling he asked "How did you find me?" she raised her eyes at him and smirked, saying "Y'know I was the one who taught you that trick, right? Plus, I knew you'd be there," he responded "Yes, but you said "Even elders can't find you, it's practically magic!" and now some young ancilla is spotting me," though he still smiled broadly and hugged his sister warmly.

They broke apart and Alice asked "So, what are you planning this evening?" Edward was not truthfully planning anything, so she started walking with him and suggested "Well, we could go to Elysium café, catch up on the latest gossip, I heard some Toreador "Artiste" was going to unveil his latest masterpiece."  
"No, I've seen too many "masterpieces". They're always copies of some human artist, we never make anything new," he answered, "Humans, they do new things, Toreadors just pretend–" "Again with the human thing!" she interrupted, "You're such a sap, Eddie! Always "Oh, humans are so much better than vampires, we've got no "spirit", we've got no "spark", they're so much better, I hate being a vampire, wah wah wah". You've gotta cut loose!"

"Anyways," said Edward, "I'd rather drink lizard blood than listen to another one of those Toreador speeches." "Lizard blood is quite nice!" responded Alice, and the wall came up.

In the Cullen family, your old surname didn't matter. Your Camarilla surname was as unimportant as your human one, what mattered was that you were a Cullen. Clan, whether it was stereotypically rebellious Brujah, "magic"-using Tremere or even vampire-blood-hunting Assamite, didn't matter. You left your clan behind you. Nonetheless, the word "Malkavian" stood between them, a wall so real they could almost touch it, for in the blood of the Malkavian flowed madness, a madness that would sometimes overtake Alice and cause her to say things and do things she wouldn't otherwise, even make her dangerous. For the merest fraction of a second, the rational part of Alice and Edward stood on guard, ready for all hell to break loose.

It didn't. This time, the madness retreated back into the depths of Alice's soul, cackling a bit as it went. Despite Edward's protests, they eventually ended up at the Elysium café, where they spent the night catching up on the latest gossip (Arnold Tremere had come out with the most miraculous elixir the world had ever seen–again, Girard Lasombra-Johnston was still in blood-frenzy-rehab and Victoria Sutherland-Assamite was rumoured to be the infamous "Annie Assamite") and as the moon set and the night waned each returned to their homes with friendly goodbyes.

Forks may not have been the largest town, but it was very much a hotbed of vampiric activity; the Elysium café was vampire-owned and served as a meeting point for vampires the whole state over after Gehenna wiped out the Washington state Sabbat (Who had rivalled the Camarilla for decades) and gutted the Camarilla.

These nights in Elysium, when nothing too political was happening, was when vampires were at their most civil and everyone almost forgot the fact that eight years ago their entire world order had been turned upside-down and that just last week prince Aro's rivalry with Carlisle had very nearly plunged the Washington State Camarilla into open war.

After the goodbyes, each went their separate ways, some even out of town. But Edward did not have far to go. He returned to the Cullen home and fell fast asleep as the dawn approached. Around him, the rest of the Cullen family drifted off into the deep, dreamless sleep of the grave.

* * *

AN: This fanfic now has a soundtrack! Italics for ones which sorta fit I guess but aren't important or anything, bold for ones which I think fit perfectly or even partly inspired the structure of the chapter. Check back here each new chapter if you'd like to hear the soundtrack for it!

By the way, the links are somewhat faulty at the moment. Put in to the URL and then paste the indicated link to get to the song. Or just google search it. Either way works.

Overall: **I walk the line by Johnny Cash**  
Link: watch?v=KHF9itPLUo4  
Chapter 2: Everybody needs somebody to love from the Blues Brothers  
Link: watch?v=HCTJeT2i9QU  
Chapter 3:** Amazing Grace** (Celtic woman version is my favourite, but you can put on whichever version you like best)  
Link: watch?v=HsCp5LG_zNE  
Chapter 4: **Master of Puppets by Metallica** (You may want to start the song after the first paragraph and skip the interlude)  
Link: watch?v=tnGuLKXlX7A


	3. Chapter 2–The days go by

**Chapter 2–The days go by**

Bella Swan woke from her sleep. She hadn't gotten much sleep: she'd been at a gig till late at night. _One day,_ she thought, _one day I'll leave this damn town and make a real name for myself._ She got up, stretched her arms as much as she could in the cramped RV she now called home. She looked beside her, Jacob had clearly gotten up. She thought she heard him cooking something and hoped she was wrong. She never liked what he made, but felt she couldn't just turn her nose up.

She got a hairbrush and began getting to work on her hair, thinking _It's always so tangled! I need some kind of conditioner… _while she looked in the mirror. She was alright, she guessed, with long red hair, almond-shaped eyes and wide lips, but she showed signs of fatigue: bags under her eyes and and sagging shoulders chief among them. She corrected the latter and waved off the former. _Well Bella, that'll happen. You gotta do your instruction in the day and do gigs at night, that's just how it works,_ she thought, and recalled last night.

It had been dark and the rain had been pouring. Not a good start by any measure. She'd managed to keep her sax from getting wet, but the sound equipment hadn't been so fortunate. They'd had to delay for 10 minutes while Al fixed it, and when they started they'd had no power. Al and Rick's trumpets' notes were dead on, Liz' french horn had been good, John's drumming was excellent, Jacob's keyboard and vocals were well-timed and well-intoned, she'd gotten her solo down perfectly, everything was technically correct but they lacked feeling. They had been more like a studio-recorded album than a live blues band.

But she had a good feeling about today. Tonight she'd perform at the Elysium café and they'd bring the house down, she knew it. Because tonight she'd perform her song. She'd been working on it for the last month and now it was finally ready. She and Jacob, they were the heart of the band, her sax, his piano and vocals, they started the band and now she was gonna be a songwriter, then they were gonna fly so high they'd leave this damn town behind them. She wondered if there'd be any talent agents there, but she didn't get her hopes up too high.

Jacob walked in as she finished combing her hair. "Hey," he began, "I made breakfast. Want some?" "Sure," she responded, wishing she didn't have to. He was so nice making breakfast all the time, so she couldn't just turn it down in his face, but his cooking just wasn't any good. Any time he made meat it was undercooked, his pancakes were often as not rough, tasteless discs and his eggs were half-burned.

As usual they ate in silence, Jacob wolfing it down while she pretended to like it. The pancakes were better than usual, but still dry and tasteless, the tiny bit of ham he left for her was barely cooked and she wondered if anyone but Jacob could eat all this and not gag. She ate mostly pancakes while he ate mostly ham, and by the time she was done Jacob had finished, cleaned his plate and started getting his things together.

They then went their separate ways, her going to Scott's lessons while Jacob went and… she honestly didn't know what Jacob was doing today, so she asked him. "I'm going to Rick's!" he responded, and with that they were off.

Her day was fairly normal; Scott providing her with more instruction on fingering and pitch and clarity. She had it all down, but she needed to keep her edge, especially for tonight. _Tonight_, she thought, _Tonight's the night, I can feel it. My whole life, it's been leading up to this moment. Once I play my song, I just know things'll change and I can get out into the world, start touring. Meet new people, maybe even find a guy I like, and then fly, fly, _fly!

That evening, she tuned her alto saxophone and rehearsed their songlist with the rest of the band, culminating in her song, "How sweet is the rain?", a soothing, slow love song with lovingly chosen lyrics and a beautiful saxophone solo at the end.

That night, the moon was out in the clear night sky as she and the band approached the Elysium café…


	4. Chapter 3–Who is this angel?

**Chapter 3–Who is this angel?**

Soundtrack: **Amazing Grace**** (watch?v=HsCp5LG_zNE)**  


* * *

Bella began the night with a powerful, single note, and that kicked off the whole thing. They felt invincible in that first song, "Everybody needs someone to love," and when it was over Jacob raised his hands to thunderous applause. "Al Jameson and Rick Ians on trumpets!" they bowed, "Liz Alder on french horn!" the applause increased, "Arnold MacMannis on guitar!" he curtsied and a few people laughed, "Bella Swan on sax!" and as she took her bow, she felt as if the whole world was on her side, and that she had never been happier in her life.

She completely missed Jacob introducing himself, and had to scramble to start the next song, but start it she did, and start it well. For the rest of the night, they played without thought for technical perfection but rather with an indomitable energy, enrapturing people as they entered the café and forcing many to stay longer than they'd intended just so they could finish listening to a song. Some even got up and danced and she realized that this café had been the perfect spot to play with such power: everyone here loved music, and apparently loved them too.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Midnight was fast approaching, and Edward Cullen-Brujah found himself just outside the Elysium café, and decided to go in. When he did, he saw that this was no ordinary night. There was a band playing, and they were playing well. They finished their song just as Edward sat down and he saw that some of the (human) clientele had been dancing.

One of the musicians got up, a gorgeous young woman with long, dark red hair, smooth pale skin and large, almond-shaped, beautiful hazel eyes, got up and walked to the microphone, handed to her by a big, tanned guy who Edward felt something was wrong with.

As she walked, she grew more enchanting, for she seemed to have an overpowering humanity about her, almost a palpable energy field of vibrancy, of life. Of the things so long denied him as a vampire. She got up to the microphone and spoke, her voice a chorus of mockingbirds. "Alright now, we're gonna do a song I wrote, called How sweet is the rain?"

The drummer kicked it off, setting a slow beat. A moment later, one of the trumpets switched to trombone and began in a slow harmony. Shortly thereafter, the french horn joined in ever so slightly louder, though he was watching the saxophonist, who hadn't so much as touched her reed. Next the keyboard and finally the trumpet joined in, and then lyrics and saxophone and the song had begun in earnest.

It was a slow, graceful song with few ups or downs, simple almost to the point of minimalism, but every note blended together, producing a unique symphony with each measure. Listening to it, Edward remembered the birth of the Blues, and was taken back through decades of music, watching jazz evolve amidst classical symphonies and eventually blossom into the blues. He hadn't heard a live blues band in fifty years, but they were just as enchanting as he remembered.

Edward realized that the saxophonist was watching him, and that the song was nearing a close.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––  
Bella got up as the others faded into the background, and began her solo. She was looking at the man seated near the window, a pale, handsome man with a square jaw and oddly-coloured eyes. She didn't know it yet, but she was already quite infatuated with him at this point.

Playing her solo, she was boosted up by her previous success and her newfound attraction, she nailed every bar with vigour and energy, and at the end of the solo as her song was greeted with up-roaring applause she knew what it must feel like to be in heaven.

Looking back at the cutie who had been sitting there, she was momentarily surprised that he'd disappeared like smoke while she took her eyes off him for only a second or two. Then she was being crowded by fans, and the thought fled her mind.


End file.
